They arrived near 7th and 6th Street and pulled into the parking garage. The church was just a few bulging over all the buildings in the area were old and made of brick. everything seems to be from the 1890s to the 1900s. On this side, there did not seem to be a lot of people. The sun was setting and the shadows of the building were casting their shadows over the city. This part of the city was not so clean with paper and other trash tossed around the area or blowing in the breeze.
As the teams arrive. There are some people walking mostly lower-income and homeless milling about on the Street. A few dogs and cats with birds flying around. The area is not being well taken care of except by the church.
By what Alyssa had shown of the area the church had owned most of the land in the area and the alley led to an old building that once belonged to the church and now a warehouse. Sung stepped out of the SUV and looked around. Sung walked to the back of the SUV and opened it pulled out his equipment, a vest, his sword in a bag and a shoulder sling for two knives.
“Get your gear ready, we will meet up with the others soon,” said Sung to the other dragons.
Choi nodded to Sung. Getting out of the SUV, he put the sword bag over his shoulder. The sword, his hands, and feet were Choi’s weapons of choice. His parkour skills gave him an advantage. Yeong looked to Eun-Ji. Up until now, all he saw from her was the illusions. However, illusions could confuse, couldn’t kill an enemy.
Alyssa’s van pulled in right behind Sung’s vehicle. She climbed out and started unlocking the back to let out Max, and so weapons could be grabbed. Herself grabbing the rifle Peter had loaned her.
Agent Powers then had his gear loaded on himself and put the snacks from his other backpack into his tactical pack. Then he stepped out of the van looking like an action character from a movie as his bulging muscles held his golden holy shotgun. Once he was out of the van it bounced a bit as if it lost a heavy load. Agent Powers looked around to see who was around them then gave a smolder to Alyssa and Peter as he said, "Let’s roll.”
Sartre had his Heckler and Koch MP5 slung over his shoulder. He kept his hand close by his Glock nineteen which was holstered on his side.
"Does anyone think that pastor Duane is down there in the catacombs? “Which way, Alyssa?”. He looked over to the pale hacker. He was surprised that the sun was shining outside.
“Over there,” Alyssa responded, pointing to the entrance down the alleyway. “I think it’s very likely the Pastor might be down there.” She figured anything was just guessing at this point
Agent Powers then asked, “Okay so do we capture the Pastor unharmed, somewhat harmed or kill him on sight? I need to know these things since most of my missions in the past were kill on sight.” Agent Powers then gave Alyssa and Peter a smolder.
Seeing that Eun-Ji exited the SUV, Choi was inquisitive enough to ask her a question. “What weapon do you have? I realize your illusions are defensive, but what can they do to an eldritch?”
“Why would we kill someone who is innocent?” asked Sartre.
Agent Powers rolled his eyes up as he replied, “Sorry man but this is my first team mission and I have been left out of the loop on mission details. Just to make it clear I need specific instructions on a mission. Normally I just kill my targets and destroy their base in the process. It’s rare for me to do a search and rescue mission.” Agent Powers sighed as he thought they knew about his past.
Sung shook his head surprised by the conversation. “We don’t need to kill anyone we don’t have to. I know we are part of secret societies the term is secret let us try to keep it that way. Our societies would just as soon as kill us than let their secret out.” warned Sung.
Sung gave a stern look to the others “So hide what you have on you or cover it at least. We are visitors and that is all. That’s what we want people to think,” said Sung buttoning his jacket.
“I am ready to go when you guys are. If you think it is better we can leave in groups until we get to the back of the buildng.” suggested Sung.
Alyssa shook her head, at Max, “Your past is a little of an enigma. I told Peter what I found out, clearly that wasn’t everything.”
The computer hacker had her pistol well concealed, in an ankle holster but the other weapon was a a rifle. She had on jeans, a t-shirt and a hoodie, and no way to hide it. “Anyone got any ideas how I can conceal this,” indicating the rifle. Well she might have one idea but it would be a pain.
Before Eun-Ji had a chance to respond an SUV pulled up to meet them. It was her confidant, David. She excused herself and went over to catch him up to speed, retrieve the items she asked him to bring and give him clear instructions about keeping guard till they returned.
She removed her hanfu outfit to reveal her form fitting tactical attire beneath. It looked like a hybrid between antiquity and modern design; giving her the appearance of a tactically armored ninja built for both mobility and protection to vital places. Her twin hammers could now be seen strapped to each upper thigh.
The extra items she retrieved were placed into a backpack for now and she carried it back over to the group. On returning, she pointed to the hammers on her hips to answer Choi’s previous question. Her illusions could do harm, but she wasn’t about to admit anything about that until it was necessary.
As she waited for them to begin, she took a garment out of the backpack and began putting it on. It was a traditional style South Korean outfit that was designed to cover her combat attire.
As Alyssa was trying to figure out what to do with the rifle, she added. “The entrance is in that building, in the basement.” Pointing out the building. “From what I can piece together I believe the entrance is likely bricked off.” Of course, her bee ability didn’t just put stuff back together. It worked the other way, something which might come in handy.
Agent Powers thought about what Sung told them and scratched his head a bit. It did make sense not to run around in public with weapons hanging out. So he scratched his head and thought for a moment before he had an idea and went back into the van so he was out of sight and imagined himself wearing a brown leather trench coat. Suddenly his slime body moved into the shape in his mind and now it looked like he was wearing a trench coat. Oddly enough the clothes he was wearing as Agent Powers were made of slime so he could alter them as needed. He then made a gun strap under his coat to attach to the shotgun so he could hide it under his trenchcoat. Then he came out of the van with a grin on his face as he said, “Hey Alyssa I can hold that for ya if you need me to.” Then he gave her a smolder.
Choi grinned, bringing his hands together before him and bowing to Eun-Ji. She was proving to be well prepared to use the resources she had. In some ways she was beginning to prove to be a valuable partner. He knew she didn’t trust him. Hopefully, that would come.
He turned to Master Sung. “Let’s go!”
“Is the entrance to the catacombs inside or outside the church? Is there another entrance?” asked Sartre.
“I’m ready. lead the way.” Sartre said.
When everyone was ready Alyssa, because she knew the way, led the group to the building. Standard old brick church, done in a Spanish style, not uncommon for California but old, very old. “I don’t know what shape the building is in but it is very old, so, just watch your step.” Alyssa then pointed to a hallway on the right. "The stairs leading down should be that way.”
Agent Powers nodded and gave Alyssa a smolder as he followed her lead. He kept in mind the update to their mission since he had to rescue the pastor and maybe some others if needed. So he stayed alert and kept his wits about him as he put on his led headlight headband.
Sartre slowly made his way down the stairs, his pistol at the ready.
Choi stayed loose and limber, ready for any altercation. He tried to reach out for the pastor’s energy. However, he didn’t interact enough to have a good feel for the energy. He wished he wouldn’t have been so hasty upon meeting the pastor, but the young girl that was in the office needed help.
Alyssa cautiously navigated the stairs, as luck would have it they were in decent enough shape. They arrived at what was supposed to be the entrance but, as predicted, it was walled off, bricks blocking the way. Alyssa moved to the side, "I believe a few of us could take care of this, who would like the honors?”
Agent Powers rubbed his chin a bit as he looked at the wall. Then he tapped on it to gauge how thick it was as he nodded at it. He then popped his neck and turned to give Eun-Ji a smolder. Then he said, “As I recall we got a lecture on being to loud and destructive last time. Now I can easily bust through this wall but it would loud and destructive which are things I am very good at. Since you (pointing at Eun-Ji) are better than everyone around you why don’t you show us how to break this wall in a stealthy manner or do yuou need to call for some support?” Agent Powers was being petty and childish since he was only 18 years old inside the huge muscular body everyone else saw. Then as he looked at Eun-Ji he made his pec muscles move up and down so each side moved the opposite direction.
The wall didn’t make sense to Choi. Hearing Powers, Yeong said, “Something isn’t right. This is the path they would have taken to escape. So, either this wall was just built, which means the mortar would not have had enough time to completely dry, or it’s a fake wall and there is a lever or pressure point somewhere near.”
Choi began to feel around the walls, as he did not see any levers. For once, Choi had stopped and evaluated the situation before forcing himself impulsively ahead.
“What should we do?” asked Sartre.
Eun-Ji had to tap into a mountain of patience in regards to Max Powers pettiness in the middle of a dangerous venture. She glanced at her fellow Dragons with an incredulous micro expression and whispered in Korean. “우리는 바보를 상대하고 있습니다. 조심하지 않으면 그 사람이 우리를 죽일 거예요.”
(OOC: translation = “We are dealing with an idiot. Be careful or he is going to get us killed.”)
She was pleased that Choi had taken the opportunity to pause, think and check before going full steam ahead. This was encouraging progress and he was indeed on to something. While the wall wasn’t a fake door, it was clear on closer inspection that the mortar was newer looking than the other surrounding walls; too clean.
Not to back down from a challenge, especially when it was underhand pitched so easily, Eun-Ji moved to the front of the group where Choi and Max were located. She removed a spike from her backpack, which contained various climbing gear. She then started tapping with her knuckles over various points on the stone wall and listened to the sounds it made. Simultaneously, her chaotic intuition converged on a point of weakness. She took the nail and placed it against the mortar joint. She then retrieved the hammer from her right thigh and made a precise strike.
As the hammer moved through the air to the nail, the space around it warped causing the hammer to take on an animated appearance of stretch and squish as it moved swiftly towards it mark. The weapon accelerated miraculously as if time altered around it and sped up. Upon contact the nail was driven up to its head into the mortar. There was a single hammer hitting metal sound, that waxed and waned as if the Doppler effect was acting funny.
From the epicenter of contact there was a subtle ripple effect in a two foot radius as if the wall was displaced and behaved like a fluid to the eye. Everything settled and Eun-Ji returned the hammer to her thigh holster, ignored Max, and made her way back to her middle spot where Alyssa was positioned.
Ten seconds passed and nothing happened. Then there was a slight gritty shifting sound. A series of cracks could be seen from where the nail was driven into the wall and they spread randomly throughout the structure. The pieces started to crumble and give way in a slow, natural looking progression. When it was all said and done, the noise was indeed minimal and there was a hole just big enough for everyone to climb through one at a time, except Max. The break was not big enough for him. Eun-Ji had a pleased look on her face at the results; she had an inkling her probability of getting the hole to be small enough to exclude Max might manifest itself.
Alyssa let Enu-Ji, do her thing without comment. It was without a doubt a interesting way to go about it, and petty. As petty as what Max had said.
With a sigh, and a roll of her eyes, Alyssa only said, “Pardon me,” and walked to the wall that now contained the hole big enough for everyone except Max.
She touched the wall where the opening was, and it quietly crumbled down, leaving a much bigger opening, one certainly big enough for everyone, including Max, to fit through. Yeah, she probably could have done this before but figured to let Enu-Ji have it, only stepping in because the pettiness was ridiculous and holding them up.
Alyssa returned to her spot, without saying another word.
Agent Powers quietly watched as Eun-Ji made her small hole in the wall. It was impressive and she was indeed skilled. If also gave him a clue to her skills in the process she was not to be trusted. He then raised an eyebrow to Eun-Ji as she was all smug about her little hole in the wall. It looked like she did it on purpose to exclude him from entering and before he could say anything Alyssa fix the hole problem much quieter and easier. He then gave Eun-Ji a smolder before covering his mouth a shocked surprised look as he whispered in a girly voice, “Oh looks like some’s better than you.” Then he gave a big grin as he moved toward the hole and looked into it with his led head lamp light. If anything came out he planned on being a shield to protect Alyssa. Then he asked Alyssa, “Want me to go in first?”
Choi grinned as Eun-Ji did her thing, but winced when he saw the size of the hole. He was glad Alyssa could compensate, but took offense at Powers comments. The way Yeong had observed, they all had their specialties and abilities, and not one was better than the other.
“Powers,” he firmly said, “you may proceed, but do not make negative comments about my partner if you want to keep your smolder. She has been very effective. Let’s work together as our agencies have asked us to do.”
Eun-Ji appreciated Choi’s rebuke of Max’s immature and mistimed behavior. She had been wondering what faction his loyalty belonged to after seeing how quickly he collaborated with them earlier in this investigation.
She felt Power’s comment was unnecessary. He asked to put a passable hole in the wall without making much sound and she had delivered. It wasn’t her fault that he was supersized. Though it was sweet Justice; Chaos wasn’t an exact science, but it never seemed to disappoint her. It was irritating though that the Illuminati had wasted time asking her to do it when they already had someone present that could handle the situation with ease.
Now that it was time to enter into the unknown, several more versions of Eun-Ji fabricated into view around her; each identical to the original.
She did play around with sending one of them to make Max Powers break his own neck, but dismissed it for now. They might need him to tank.
Agent Powers grinned at the dragons before entering the dark hole. The led light on his head illuminated the walls and he saw a passage as well. He told the others what he saw and described any concerns he had. He continued to move forward before he let the others know that they could enter. He was on guard as he hand Alyssa her rifle and whipped out his shotgun.
Choi was cautious, but not overly. He didn’t sense anything yet. He remained focused before them, attempting to feel any presence that may be a threat to the team.
He walked through the hole that the two females on the team had made. He stood in the glow of the light generated from Powers’ forehead, closing his eyes, reaching forth with his senses. It recalled times that Master Park made Yeong fight blindfolded.
Sartre climbed through the entrance carrying his MP5 rifle behind him, he looked to see how the others were doing. “It’s very dark in here.” said Sartre.
Alyssa finally spoke up, “It would nice to have the pettiness not be a thing from both sides, during this mission.” Alyssa was to the point of aggravation, she didn’t even want to be in the tunnels but adding the back and forth between Max and Enu-Ji it was getting on her last nerve. “Let’s get out of here alive then you can both get back to annoying each other.” Alyssa also wasn’t convinced that Enu-Ji didn’t deliberately make the hole too small for Max. An advanced degree in physics meant she should have known what would happen. Alyssa then turned to Choi, “Look, the two of us have worked together just fine so far. I’d like that to continue, but don’t threaten one of my teammates. Especially, over words. Can we all agree to just tolerate each other long enough to finish this and not get killed in the process?” Alyssa was almost wishing that she was zapped out of here again without all the …damn …stuff that she had forgotten about, again.
Choi grinned at Alyssa. All along he had the feeling the teams would need to work together on this one. He couldn’t explain it, but as soon as he met Sartre and knew that he was also being watched by someone else, namely Alyssa, whom he hadn’t met yet, it seemed he got a gut feeling.
“Anyone ever tell you that your cute when you’re angry,” he said with a smirk. She reminded Yeong of a chihuahua nipping at someone’s heels. “Yes! I’ve known for a while Gaia would pull us together on this one. I’ve been open to that from the beginning.”
Eun-Ji stayed securely tucked away in the center of their processional train, near Alyssa. There was a total of four each interacting and moving with their own unique responses to the environment. With the darkness and distance traveled, it was now impossible to know for certain which one was the real one.
“Shhhh” Came a stern reprimand from one of them; which one was unclear. Eun-Ji was disgusted by the unnecessary chit chat and lack of professionalism. They were not on some pleasure stroll, they were in a perilous situation and at a disadvantage due to the unknown variables, lack of visibility and terrain. She did not want their ability to hear threats, or changes, in the darkness to be compromised by noise.
Alyssa bit back a half-smile, and rolled her eyes at Yeong, but didn’t get a chance to respond before hearing a “shhhh.” Probably from one of the Enu-Jis because if anyone said that it would be her. Alyssa just let it go. Damn, she missed the solitude of her van.
Agent Powers ignored the others behind him as he moved forward at a slow but reasonable pace. He kept a look out for traps, vermin and possible dangers both natural and man made. Every now and then he would encounter a rat and he just gave it a small kick. It would sent flying and before it died from the impact of a wall. Since he had experience with this before he only kicked it hard enough to break its bones without making it explode open. He was not to fond of the smell of dead rats in the tunnels since he knew they would be there a while. He didn’t say anything since he was focused on pressing on. As they continued on the dark tunnel he looked for any clues left on the walls that could be useful.
Choi silently walked beside Powers. His senses hyper. He figured he’d sense something before Max saw something.
He sniffed the air. “Hey Powers,” Yeong whispered. “What did you have for lunch? Mexican? Do me a favor and ease up on the refried beans next time.”
Of course, he was only joking with Max. It’s what those working together did. Talk smack.
Agent Powers smirked as he kicked another rat deep into the tunnel. The small squeak was the last sound it made before hitting a wall and getting crushed. He then spoke in a low tone, “Your funny Choi. I am not sure where you smell beans though, Mr. Secret Asian Man (from the song). Seriously though all I can smell is dead animals and mold in this place. Though they are annoying its good that we do see the rats though. It means no traps nearby. If we find a bunch of dead rats in one place it’s a good sign for traps. Also keep an eye out for odd marks to walls that look odd. It’s possible to find hidden passageways inside a tunnel to throw us off. The Cartel and Voodoo masters like doing that stuff.” Agent Powers continued to light the way with his head lamp.
The sound of the rats being kicked made Alyssa jump slightly. She took a breath and calmly spoke, to Max. “Maybe, you could leave the rats alone. They might be the only actually innocent things down here, and all the noise can only attract attention.” Really, the rats would probably just run from the group, why kill them?
The computer hacker was trying to keep her eyes peeled but everyone around her was taller than her, so it made it a little difficult.
Sung had been in the back walking with the others. Watching them and studying the way they reacted to things. The only thing sung was not keen on what the rats. the darkness did not bother Sung was used to working in places like this. He did wish the others would not joke as much and Sun figured they were nervous.
Sung A multitude of bodies locked together in death, fitting perfectly like one enormous body. Skulls in arches and rows broke up the pattern. Some had holes in them, some cracked and others smooth. All had the dull patina of age and seemed to be cemented together as if they had sunk into each other after years of standing here, sentinels to death. The ancient dead don’t smell and the earth scent. Certainly not unpleasant, more like a cave.
The teams walked for about 15 minutes. The echo of them walking could be heard it was almost impossible to be quiet. The dust in the air was heavy enough to be seen. there were some red night lights now and then in the ceiling. This helped to make this place even creepier. there was a turn in the tunnel as they went through the turn. Yeong could see that the dust started to flow to the right and through some bones. After a closer inspection, the Bones are arranged a little differently. Max and Yeong can feel the air moving in that direction when all of this is realized. Something is hidden there.
Agent Powers raised his arm to halt the others from moving forward. He moved his light around the area to illuminate it while looking with his eyes for anything that look odd. Then he spoke softly as he said, “Looks like we found a trap. Who wants to disarm it?” He didn’t take his eyes off the scene since he didn’t have time for a smolder.
“The air is flowing that way,” Choi announced. “It is dustier that way too. Either the air flow is pulling the dust that direction, or it is the path less taken.”
Yeong knew that just as in the jungle, more use means a path is hewn. Even the smallest of rodents leave a path of a heavily trafficked area. The path here would be less dust, as it would tend to cling to the feet of the travelers.
“What kind of trap is it?” asked Sartre?
Sung made his way to the front where Choi was. Sung looked around. then pulled out a small Tactical light flashlight from his jacket. then started to look around carefully. He passed to the far side opposite the wall they were looking at. Then turned to look at the ground and ceiling. Sung touched the dirt near the wall they were examining. brushing some of it away.
After Sung moved some of the dirt there were scrape marks from something sliding. “Not a trap but a concealed door I think,” commented Sung showing what he found.
“I can probably unconceal it.” Alyssa commented, as she moved forward. This time not wasting time asking others to do what she could quietly and quickly do, and with no equipment.
The young woman double checked for any traps or things that might be triggered, finding nothing, she put her hands on the bone. Was quiet for a moment, the bones disintegrated, falling quietly down.
Agent Powers was ready to grab Alyssa and pull her to safety in case things went wrong. He was no longer in a joking mood since knew of the many dangers inside tunnels. He watched for anything that was a threat.
“If there is a ladder to climb down, I can go down first.” Sartre offered.
There were stairs leading down in the tunnel. there was no light and did not look as old as the other tunnels they had walked through. This tunnel was more narrow. Agent Power’s head would be near the ceiling and his shoulders near the side walls. so it would be one at a time to walk down the stairs.
Agent Powers looked down the hole and lit it up with his head light. Since it was narrow he described it to the others and replied, “I appreciate the offer Peter but my dad won’t be happy if you and Alyssa got hurt. Its best if I was the tank on this part.” Agent Powers didn’t give a smolder as he responded. He looked very serious at this point. It was almost like he was expecting to get his by an ambush or trap at any moment.
“I got your back,” Choi replied to Powers, drawing the sword Sung had given him from the bag. “It’s best to be prepared.”
He looked at the others, “Powers and I will check it out and let you know if it’s safe.”
Agent Powers nodded as he slowly went down the stairs and looked around with his head light. He was looking for any possible traps and damage to the tunnel that would be a concern. The climb down as a problem as Agent Powers was rather big for the tunnel so he altered his form a bit to fit a bit easier down the ladder. When he reached the bottom he reverted back to his original big muscular form and looked around before Choi came down. He was very thorough in looking the place over.
“What do you see down there?” asked Sartre.
Agent Powers kept on guard as he looked around with his head light. Then after hearing Peter speak he replied, "Looks like an old tomb, but I don’t see any bodies yet. If it is a tomb we need to be careful of dead bodies, rats and poison from the dead. Stay on guard.”
Sartre walked down and armed his MP5. He swept the area for enemies, moving slowly.
Alyssa descended the stairs and looked around. “Catacombs have skeletal remains but not usually dead bodies.” Actual tombs with bodies should be elsewhere, still it did look very tomb-like. She kept her rifle pointed down but was ready, if something came at them.
Cjhoo looked at skulls piled atop one another. Hundreds of empty eye sockets stared upon them. He poked the point of his sword inside a few of them.
“Just in case,” Yeong declared.
Agent Powers looked at Choi with a raised eyebrow then replied, “Be careful doing that. Some Cartels I hunted in the past hid bombs in the skeletons and dead bodies to deal with grave robbers. I got blown up a few times before I realized what happened. Trust me you don’t want to dig yourself out of a cave-in. It’s not fun even if you survive.” Agent Powers had a pained expression on his face as he spoke. It was like he was reliving a horrible past while in the tunnels.
“Just checking for spiders or snakes,” Choi admitted with a smirk. “You never know in these places.”
From the other side of the room, there is movement in the shadows as everyone gets down the stairs and into the room. It was safe at first glance and there was nothing to detect. from a passageway, something starts to walk out of the dark with red glowing eyes.
Skeletons infuse its bones with a dark vitality, adhering joint to joint and reassembling dismantled limbs. This energy motivates a skeleton to move and think. An animated skeleton retains no connection to its past, although resurrecting a skeleton restores its body and soul.
The skeletons were in tattered clothing and carrying rusty machetes. They walk towards the party, 10 of them spreading out trying to encircle everyone.
Agent Powers popped his neck as he pulled up his golden shotgun and got ready to aim for the heads of the skeletons. He was serious and had no mercy for his targets. He then said to the others, “We got 10 skeletons ahead! Aim for the head and chest!” Then Agent Powers took aim and shot at the skeleton in the middle.
“Looks like I poked the wrong eyes,” Choi suggested to the others.
He immediately hurled the sword straight for the eyes of the skeleton in front of him. Dashing toward it, he intended to jump and do a forward flip over the skeleton while retrieving the sword from the skull. He rarely missed.
Eun-Ji readied her twin hammers and her clones formed a defensive perimeter around her. Being in the middle of the group, she and Alyssa were already surrounded with the protective expertise of the others. If all went well, then hopefully the threat would be neutralized before they had to take action. Regardless of this possibility, she remained situationally aware and got ready to react when the time became necessary.
Sartre raised his rifle towards the ivory formations. He burst fired three volleys, the sound of the anima charged mp5 Releasing bullets resulted throughout the walls of the catacombs.
Sung watched as things unfolded. His first thought was just to let the others deal with the skeletons. The skeletons walked forward with the sound of clacking bones. He also knew the guns there had no sound suppressors and the noise would be deafening. Not that he likes guns anyway for that reason.
Sung knew what he had to do to help out. Sung drew his sword and made a circular motion and a word was spoken. Then a metal ringing noise. As the ringing faded there was no sound in the area. Sphere centered on the group. The room was void of sound, not even talking or even the guns were heard.
Alyssa had a choice, she could wait which was what Eun-Ji had done or try to somehow shoot, from the middle of the group, around people that were all taller than her. That second option seemed difficult at the moment. So, she followed Eun-ji in not attacking but staying abreast of the situation.
Posted by : Cindy